


Patchworks

by peloquine



Series: Christmas fic calendar [5]
Category: Spartacus Series (TV), Spartacus: Vengeance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Fluff and Angst, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-16
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-21 07:20:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/595003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peloquine/pseuds/peloquine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Agron and Nasir has been dating for about three months. And here come the surprises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Surprises and Octopi

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure what this is, but as long as I'm writing, I'm happy.

Agron sighed contently, pressing closer to the warm body in his bed, smiling a little when he felt morning wood brush against his hip, letting on hand rest on his bed companion’s hip, tracing the curving bone slowly with his thumb.

He heard excited babble and laughter and the sound of feet up the stairs. He knew it would only take the girls seconds to run up to the second floor and down the hall and…

“AAAGRON!”

He was forcefully jerked into complete consciousness and sat up, scrambling for his phone on the nightstand. 11.26. Fuck.

Nasir groaned petulantly, shifting closer and landing halfway in Agron’s lap, pressing a messy kiss to his pectoral.

The door flew open and the girls tumbled in. The way they froze once they caught sight of them would have been comically had Agron not been caught up in his own, personal freak-out.

“I know I said I’d bring them by eleven, but Crixus took them out for ice-cream and…” Naevia came through the door. “Oh, shit.”

“Good morning,” Agron said, trying to nudge Nasir awake with his elbow in a way Nasir would not interpret as in interlude to morning sex and not throw a hissy fit at the same time.

Isobel was staring in wide-eyed confusion, hugging her plush octopus close to her, looking back and forth between Agron and Naevia. Simone was looking like she couldn’t decide between throwing a tantrum or start up with her endless “why”-questioning, while Jayne just stared.

Nasir woke up and blinked in confusion, looking back at the four pair of eyes staring at him and sitting up slowly. “What the fuck…?”

This was so not supposed to happen.

“Um, Naevia?” Agron said. “Could you…?”

“Hm?” Naevia seemed to snap out of something, reluctantly dragging her eyes from their tangled and only partially sheet-covered bodies. “Oh, yes. Of course.” She ushered to girls out of the bedroom and closed the door behind her. He could hear the girls starting to ask questions before they were even two feet away from the door.

“So,” Nasir said, rubbing at his eyes. “You have kids.”

“Yup,” Agron said.

“Please don’t tell me that woman was your wife.”

Agron looked at him in shock. “What? No! She’s a friend. And, excuse me, but did you somehow miss that we’ve been dating for the last three months?”

“Well, you missed informing me of the fact that you have _three daughters_!” Nasir’s voice took on a slightly hysterical note at the end. “Are you married? Have you been married? Are you divorced? Widower? Are you…”

Agron gave frustrated sigh, grabbed Nasir around the back of his neck and kissed him. Nasir smacked his shoulder in retaliation.

“I’m not married,” Agron said, pulling back. “I have never been married.”

“But…”

“They’re my brother’s.”

“Oh.”

That Agron had told him – about his brother and sister-in-law’s deaths. After the car accident Agron had gotten custody of their children and spent the last two years trying desperately to not fuck them up too badly. Nasir had been the only thing Agron had allowed for himself in that time – he’d never even had a one-night-stand since he unexpectedly and heartbreakingly became a father of three. He had tried to keep Nasir and the children apart and it had went well until Nasir in the middle of some insignificant bickering suddenly wondered why he’d never been allowed inside Agron’s house, accusing him of just playing around. So Agron had asked Naevia and Crixus to take the girls for the night so he could bring Nasir over. The plan had been to take Nasir out for breakfast and then be back before eleven. But then Nasir had woken him up around midnight, just after they had fallen asleep after the first round, with his lips around Agron’s cock, and… well.

Nasir was out of the bed, pulling on his underwear and picking up his shirt from the floor.

“So,” Nasir said as he was buttoning his shirt.

Agron just looked at him, at his wonderful legs and the way the black mane of his hair hung over one shoulder, almost covering his eye.

“I guess this is it, then.” Nasir didn’t look at him, but seemed very invested in looking for his slacks and socks instead.

“What?” Agron looked up at his face. “No!”

“Oh, come on, Agron.” Nasir found a hair tie in one pocket and gathered up his hair in both hands. “We’ve been dating three months and you haven’t even mentioned the fact that you have children, no less let me meet them. I don’t think you don’t care, but…” He shrugged. “Apparently you don’t care enough. I’m no one’s dirty little secret.”

Agron had him pressed up against the wall in a matter of seconds, leaning down to look at him. Manhandling him around was probably not the best response, but he needed him to _understand_. “You’re not my dirty little secret,” Agron said. “And you’re one to talk – two weeks ago you threw a fit when I called you my boyfriend!”

“I was shocked!” Nasir said. “I’d been sure from the beginning that this was just you blowing off steam or something and I was fine with that until I realised that I was fucking falling in love with you!”

“I…” Agron fell silent, gaping at Nasir. “You love me?”

Nasir glared at his own feet. “No.”

“You love me.” A smile was spreading on Agron’s face.

“No.”

Agron kissed him.

Nasir twisted away. “Could you just stop that? Asshole.” He glowered.

“Nasir…”

“No.” He broke away from Agron, snatching up his phone and keys from the dresser. “It doesn’t matter. I want a relationship – not being hidden away.”

“I’m not hiding you away!” Agron raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I didn’t tell you I had children because you young. I didn’t want to scare you away. Children isn’t exactly something you’re ready to sign up for, right? And also, there was no way in hell I could introduce someone new in their lives without knowing what would happen, if it would last. They’ve lost both their parents; they’re not going to lose anyone else, however insignificant, ever again, if I have anything to say about it.”

Nasir looked chastised.

There was a knock on the door. “Agron?”

“Yeah? You can come in.”

Naevia opened the door. “Could I talk to you for a sec?” she said to Agron.

“Sure.” Agron grabbed a pair of sweat and put them on. “The children…”

“Could you watch them?” Naevia asked Nasir. Agron desperately tried to tell her to cut it the hell out without drawing attention to it, and failed. “I put a movie on, so they will barely notice you. Just make sure they don’t wreck the house.” And went that she had ushered Nasir out the room and down the stairs, just like she had with the girls earlier. Naevia had that effect on most people.

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” Agron said. “They’ll traumatise him.”

“He’s just going to have to get used to it, right?” Naevia said.

“Nae…”

“Just shut up,” she said. “You’re crazy about him.”

“He’s…”

“What? Stupidly in love with you? Nice? Smart? Beautiful? Seriously, if you don’t keep him, I will.”

Agron snorted. “I have on good authority that he is quite gay, so have fun with that. And how would Crixus like you bringing other men home, by the way?”

She stuck out her tongue at him. “Don’t change the subject. He’s good for you.”

“Nae, he’s twenty four.”

“So? Seven years isn’t that much.”

It wasn’t. Or it wouldn’t have been, at least. Before he got the girls it would have been nothing, but now he and Nasir was living practically completely different lives. “He doesn’t want _this_ ,” Agron said.

“So what does he want?”

“I don’t know! Getting plastered each weekend, sleeping around, doing body-shots of hot guys’ abs?”

Naevia snorted. “Oh my god. He’s not a sixteen-year-old you, Agron. I didn’t tell you to marry him. Just, you know, keep him around.”

- 

“…and last year Agron let Jayne put up the reindeers, so this year it’s my turn. And then we’re going to make gingerbread cookies…”

“Nasil! Pet my octi!”

“…and we’ve already got a tree, but it’s in the garage because Agron says it’s too warm inside to put it up yet but we will soon and then…”

“Why is your hair so long? Are you going to marry Agron? Can I brush your hair?”

“…and I told Santa that I wanted a bicycle for Christmas and then he said…”

“Pet octi!”

“I can do braids too! Want me to do a braid?”

“…and Agron said that if we weren’t nice Santa would maybe forget about our presents. Have Santa ever forgotten your presents?”

“How old are you? Are you as old as Agron? He is really old.”

“…so I told Agron that he has to remind Santa so that he doesn’t forget my presents, because…”

“You’re hair is really pretty.”

When Agron stepped into the living room, Nasir looked like he had been hit by a hurricane. Jayne was more tying segments of his hair together than braiding it, while Simone held court on Nasir’s lap, talking a mile a minute. Little Isobel were holding on to one of Nasir’s hands, forcefully helping him pet her octopus, while a _The Land Beyond Time-_ movie was running ignored on the TV.

Agron picked Isobel up and threw her into the air, making her squeal. “Nasil pet my octi!” she told him, beaming. Isobel had a very straightforward way of judging a person’s characters: if he or she petted her plushy, the person in question was okay.

“Jayne, Simone, why don’t you go out in the kitchen and grab some juice?” he said. They reluctantly let go of Nasir and ran out into the kitchen, already bickering about who would get the last one with cherry flavour.

“I should probably go,” Nasir said, getting up from the floor.

Agron nodded, following Nasir out into the hall.

“Just,” Agron licked his lips. “Think about it okay?” He pecked Nasir on the lips. “Call me.”

“I will,” Nasir said, disappearing out the door.

There was a crash from within the kitchen, Isobel hit Agron in the head with her plushy and then the twins began screaming with delight. Apparently they’d located Agron’s secret cookie stash. He sighed. Now he was going to have to find a new hiding place. Again.

At least kids made wonderful distractions.


	2. Chaotics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls are monsters, Agron never gets any cookies, and all Vogts love Nasir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agron is completely right - making cookies is a whole different matter than cooking.
> 
> I can't quite decide how much angst this should have (or how long it will end up being, for that matter) so I'm kind of pending. 
> 
> Also, you know what's hard? Writing Agron like a semi-responsible 31-year-old single father. That's, like, completely out of character for him.

“Nasir.”

Agron nearly dropped the phone in relief when Nasir picked up on the second signal.

“Hi! Thank the gods. I need to get Naevia to the hospital ‘cause Crixus is out of town with Sparty and Mira, but I have no one to take care of the kids, except for Saxa, and she’s crazy, and I’m in a bit of a rush, and I’m so sorry about asking this of you because it’s seems a bit awkward, but could you please maybe look after my kids for a few hours or so?” Agron took a deep breath.

“What’s happened to Naevia?”

There was worry in Nasir’s voice, and Agron cursed himself for not explaining a little better. Nasir and Naevia had only met a few times, but they had hit it off rather well, so of course he would be worried.

“She’s pregnant and something hurts so I need to get her to the hospital like right _now_ … Shut up, Nae. This is not up for discussion. She’s being difficult,” Agron said to Nasir.

“Shouldn’t you call Crixus at least?”

“Oh my god, no,” Agron said. “He’s gonna freak. We want to handle this as calmly as possible. Naevia! Sit down, for fuck’s sake. Jayne, stop pestering aunt Naevia, and, Nasir, could you please come over before I start crying?”

“I’m on my way,” Nasir said.

- 

It was late when Agron finally got home and he hoped Nasir was still there – preferably alive.

He found Nasir in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee. He looked a bit worn out and there was glitter in his hair and on one of his cheeks.

“Hi,” Agron said.

“Hi.” Nasir have him his cup and Agron gratefully accepted it. “The girls are asleep. In your bed, because they refused to be separated. I hope that’s okay. How’s Naevia?”

“Fine.” Agron took a sip of coffee. “There was some Braxtons Hicks whatnot thingy. Nothing dangerous. Thought Naevia would kill the doc when he told her that most women don’t even feel them, though. And then Crixus called and it all turned a bit chaotic.” Agron rolled his eyes. “Apparently he’s convinced he’s going to be a horrible dad just because he missed this extremely important bonding step of driving his wife and peanut-sized unborn baby to the hospital for no big deal.”

“Hey.” Nasir nudged him with his hip, stealing back his coffee. “You were worried too. I heard you.”

“Mm.” Agron leaned in close and snaked one hand around Nasir’s neck, bending down to kiss him because everything suddenly felt like it had three days ago. “Shit, sorry,” he said, pulling back once he remembered.

Nasir looked a bit guilty and Agron frowned at that.

“We decorated the tree,” Nasir said, biting his lip. “It was there with all the ornaments in the boxes around it and you had already started on the lights and…” He shrugged. “It was the only thing they wanted to do. Sorry.”

Agron walked out into the living room, and there it was – their slightly crooked tree meticulously decorated, the multi-coloured lights spreading a warm glow in the room.

“I know you probably wanted to do it with them,” Nasir said, following him. “I hope you don’t mind too much.”

“It looks good,” Agron said. “Last year it looked like someone had upended the ornament boxes over the tree.” He cocked his head. The bulbs were seriously in concentric circles and the lights were fucking colour-coordinated. “Perfectionist, much?” he asked Nasir, grinning. “How did you make them go along with this?”

“I bribed them with cookies,” Nasir said. “I’m not good with kids, so sugar was my only option.”

“Dammit!” Agron said. “Did they find my cookies again? I’m running out of places to hide them!”

“We made cookies,” Nasir said, looking like Agron was deranged. “And do you seriously hiding cookies from your kids?”

“If I don’t hide them, I don’t get any,” Agron defended himself. “Also, you made cookies?”

“Yes.”

“Are there any left?”

“Nope. Sorry.”

“See?” Agron whined. “There’s never any cookies for Agron!” Then he sobered. “Thank you so much,” he said. “I know I shouldn’t have called you but I was freaking out and I was desperate.”

“It’s okay.” Nasir smiled. “They are rather cute. Isobel offered to lend me her plushy if I ever had trouble sleeping and Jayne let me wear her Batman mask. It was apparently a great honour.”

Something in Agron warmed at the small, goofy smile on Nasir’s lips.

“They do that,” Agron said. “First they charm you, and then, when it’s too late, you realise what monsters they really are.”

Nasir laughed, looked at the watch, made a face. “I need to go. I have to get up early tomorrow.”

Agron followed him out into the hallway, watching quietly as he put on his coat and gloves.

When Nasir opened to door to leave, he hesitated. “See you?” he asked.

“Sure,” Agron said. “Maybe this weekend?”

Nasir nodded and smiled.

- 

“Agwon!” Isobel stretched her small arms up and Agron lifted her out of her chair and put her in his lap.

“Something wrong with your food?” he asked Jayne and Simone, who were poking at their peanut butter sandwiches as if they were offended by them.

“Nooo…” Simone said unconvincingly.

“It’s just,” Jayne said, “Nasir did them differently.”

“He made them into triangles!” Simone supplied, making it sound as if Nasir had cured cancer or something.

“Want me to cut them into triangles?” Agron asked.

“No.” Jayne pouted. “They still don’t taste the same.”

“And can Nasir take us Christmas shopping?” Simone asked.

“Why do you want to go Christmas shopping?” Agron asked, trying to sneak some yoghurt into Isobel’s mouth without her noticing it. “You are the ones that _gets_ gifts.”

“But we want to buy for you!”

“You, daddy!” Isobel added, patting him on his scruffy cheek with one sticky hand. She called him that sometimes, and it hurt every single time. She had not even been one when Duro and Diona passed; she didn’t even remember them.

“I can ask Spartacus to take you,” Agron said. He didn’t know what he would have done without his friends – the girls might lack parents, but they had a safety-net the size of the Atlantic. Sure, it broke down occasionally, but it was always there when it counted.

“We want Nasir,” Jayne said, crossing her arms. Duro had always complained about Jayne being too much like Agron. Agron used to think it was cute. Now he mostly pitied his own parents and all the thing they had been forced to put up with.

“Nasil!” Isobel squealed happily.

“How about Saxa?” Agron tried. They loved Saxa, because she was the crazy aunt who let them do anything. Agron was a little terrified of leaving them alone with her for extended periods of time, but it was worth a try.

“Nasir,” Simone said, as if that settled it. “And ask him for his peanut butter sandwich-recipe, please.”

Agron groaned inwardly.

- 

“Are you aware of the fact that your kids are calling me?”

“They do?” Agron considered smacking his head against the kitchen cupboards. This was not the conversation he’d hoped they’d have when he saw that Nasir was calling him.

“Yup. And they have told me horrible things. Like how you can’t make peanut butter sandwiches to save your life and that you try to stop them from buying you Christmas presents.”

“Yeah, they’re rebelling against me,” Agron said. “Apparently I don’t do voices as well as you do when reading out loud either. Also, they’re trying to make me bake cookies. I don’t know how to do that!”

“You don’t know how to cook?” Nasir asked.

“I know how to cook,” Agron said, offended. “Cookies is an entirely different matter!”

Nasir snorted. “Yeah, sure.” Then he hesitated. “I could… I could bake cookies with them. And you. If that’s okay, of course.”

Agron was silent for a short while. “You want that?”

“I want you,” Nasir blurted, almost making Agron forget how to breathe. “And your kids aren’t terrible, and I get that you’re a package deal. So if you want me around, I, you know, want that too.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Come by tonight? I’ll make dinner if you promise I get some cookies.”

Nasir laughed. “Deal.”


	3. Cookie Revolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is more cookies, and it's really Agron and Nasir that are the children in this (they act like it anyway).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what? The next chapter will be about stuff that isn't cookie-related. Believe it or not.

“Agron tried making us brownies once,” Jayne said, “but he burned them. And one time he said he’d made cupcakes, but I saw the bag from the bakery.”

“Yeah, and if someone doesn’t shut up about that she will never get store-bought cookies ever again,” Agron said from where he was stirring the pasta on the stove. “We don’t want that, do we?”

Jayne scoffed. “Nasir will just make us more cookies, dummy.”

“And they’re better than yours!” Simone piped in, the little traitor.

“The history books will call this the Cookie Revolution,” Agron grumbled, throwing sliced bell peppers and bacon into the sauce.

Nasir laughed as he poured chocolate chips into the cookie batter.

“Lemme have some!” Simone said.

“Open your mouth,” Nasir said and when she did he poured a few down her throat. She giggled hysterically and almost choked on them, which had Nasir’s eyes widen in panic until she managed to swallow properly.

“Me too! Me too!” Jayne screamed, almost jumping over the table in her eagerness.

“Too! Too!” Isobel mimicked, clapping her hands. She had traces of cookie batter around her mouth.

Agron cleared his throat. “That’s enough. No more sugar before dinner, okay?”

The only one looking chastised was Nasir. “Sorry,” he said and lifted the cookie-laden plate of the table to put it in the oven.

“This will be done in a minute,” Agron said. “Help Nasir clear and set the table.”

There was grumbling, because his kids were spoiled brats, but eventually the table was divested of cookie-making and set with plates and utensils.

There was a brief fight over who would get the honour of sitting next to Nasir – which Agron lost – before they settled in to eat. Simone had Nasir cut her pasta for her, and then she spilled her milk in his lap in her haste to get her plate back. Jayne almost threw a tantrum over the injustice of it all, demanding that Nasir cut not only her pasta but her miniscule pieces of bacon as well.

Agron quietly wondered if it was okay to sign your kids up for puppy training classes or if it was a sign of bad parenting.

- 

It went surprisingly easy to get the girls into bed, but he guessed all the excitement had exhausted them.

When he came down from upstairs, Nasir was sitting on couch where he had left him. There were cookie crumbles in his lap and a purple hand-print on his shirt. Agron grimaced. He looked like a kindergarten had thrown up on him.

“I’m sorry about them,” he said, sitting down. “They just get excited easily. Diona’s genes, I’m sure.”

“Do you miss them much?”

Agron closed his eyes and leaned back. “All the time. And not just for my sake. I mean, their kids are absolutely nuts, but they’re also perfectly wonderful, you know? And they should be here to see that, to know them. They should have dinner with them each night and read them goodnight and make them breakfast in the morning and shop Christmas presents for them. They should be the ones they snuggle up to when they have had a bad dream, they should be the ones that heard Issa’s first words. Not me.”

Nasir laced their fingers together. “You’re an amazing father.”

“Yeah.” Agron let his head fall back against the back of the couch. “And the moment they find someone knew, I’m old news.”

Nasir froze beside him. “Shouldn’t I…?”

“Fuck. Apologies.” Agron rubbed his eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… I used to be the cool uncle, you know? The one who never said no, who would always play with them, and buy them silly gifts and have sleepovers where they could stay up as long as they wanted. And now I’m their not-quite-father, who forces them to finish their dinner and go to bed early and tells them to not eat too much candy and puts them in time-out when they’re bad. It’s not the same.”

“No, I guess not.” Nasir leaned his head on Agron’s shoulder and it was almost pathetic how much Agron revelled in that simple touch. He didn’t lack human contact; his girls were big on cuddling, all his friends had always been on a rather touchy-feely basis, and he and Nasir had been sleeping together for three months, but this was different.

“They seem very happy, though,” Nasir said.

“Yeah.” Agron smiled a little. “That’s what’s counts.”

“And you?” Nasir asked quietly. “Are you happy?”

Agron turned to look at him. “Most of the time.”

“For real?”

“I…” Agron frowned. “I don’t know.”

Nasir was so close Agron could feel his breath against his cheek. This was confusing – just days ago he and Nasir had been touching constantly whenever they were together; kissing, hugging, fucking, sleeping tangled up in each other. And now he wasn’t even sure if he was allowed to touch him.

“Did I make you happy?” Nasir’s dark eyes looked vulnerable.

“Yes,” Agron said, “you did. You were my reprieve.”

On second thought, that might not have been the best thing to say, Agron realised as Nasir pulled away.

“That came out wrong,” Agron said, sitting up, trying to make Nasir stay without actually holding on to him.

“I told you, Agron,” he said, face turned away. “I don’t want anything like that. I’m not your secret cookie stash.”

Later, the ridiculousness of that sentence would register and Agron would laugh almost hysterically at it, but there and then it wasn’t in the least funny.

“But, but… You’ve met my kids. They love you!”

“Yeah, _on accident_. You didn’t exactly plan for it. And I wouldn’t even be here now if you knew how to make cookies!”

“You seriously think that’s all I want from you? _Cookies_?”

“Yeah, because currently it doesn’t seem like there is anything else I can offer you.” And with that Nasir stormed out, but he closed the door quietly behind him so as not to wake the kids.

- 

“You moron!” Gannicus called from where he was lying on the kitchen floor with the girls and a colouring book, and about a thousand crayons spread out around them.

Donar patted Agron consolingly on the back. “Want a beer?”

“No. And I did not tell him I only wanted him for his cookies!”

All his asshole friends burst into laughter.

“And the best part is, that’s not even a euphemism,” Mira said. “You fucked up completely, Aggy.”

“I just don’t know what I did wrong. I mean, what _doesn't_ he have to offer that I want?”

“Think about it,” Spartacus said.

“When was the last time you had sex?” Naevia asked frankly.

“A few days.”

“So the last time was the night before me and the girls stumbled over you?”

“Yup.”

“Pea-brain,” Saxa muttered.

“Shut up,” Agron told her, scowling.

“So basically all that he has done in the last couple of days is baby-sitting your kids,” Donar said.

“You should fuck him,” Crixus rasped from his corner of the couch.

“Children in the next room!” Gannicus shouted.

“Sorry! Didn’t know your sensibilities were that delicate!” Crixus yelled back.

“Fu… Poo-head!”

“So what?” Agron said irritably. “We have sex and everything will be magically solved?”

He got a pillow in his face for that.

“Idiot,” Saxa said like she was good at relationships or something. The only reason she and Gannicus were still together was because no one else was insane enough to try and date either of them.

“Just show him you want _him_ ,” Mira said.

“And not his cookie-making abilities,” Spartacus added, making the whole group dissolve into giggles again. “In fact, you should really stress that. Maybe send him a letter?”

“’Dear Nasir, I want to ensure you that my intentions are honourable – it is not merely for your cookies I desire your company…’” Donar was laughing too badly to even finish his make-up letter.

“I hate you all,” Agron said. “I really, really hate you.”

“Hate is bad!” Jayne called from the kitchen. “Say you’re sorry!”

Agron hated his kids too.


	4. Jigsaw Puzzles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's phone-stealing and more dinners and some smut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea where I'm going with this. Also, I know nothing about children. Or, you know, anything about being an adult. But, then again, neither does Agron.
> 
> And please excuse my lazily written smut, but actual porn takes soooo much time for me to write and I just wanted to get it done.

“Agron!”

“Hm?” Agron was zoning out in front of the TV, tired after a long day at work, hoping that his kids weren’t killing each other somewhere.

Jayne jumped up onto his lap, snuggling into his chest and he put one arm around her, ruffling her short hair.

“Do you love me, Aggy?” she asked, looking up at him through tufts of hair.

“You know I do, hun,” he answered a tad distractedly, trying and failing to hide a yawn behind his hand.

“I love you too,” she told him earnestly and Agron could practically feel is heart melt a little bit at that. “I told Nasir to come to dinner,” she added.

“That’s nice,” Agron mumbled, before her words sunk in. “You did _what_?! Jayne!”

“But we miss him! And you do too. Nae said so.”

“You met him yesterday, for Christ’s sake,” Agron muttered. “And how did you even get his number?” He reached for his phone to send an angry text to Naevia, only to find nothing but empty air where it should have been on the coffee table.

Jayne sheepishly pulled his phone out of her pocket. “Was just borrowing,” she said, widening her eyes in false innocence.

“Oh my god!” Agron said. “From now on, no touching my phone, okay? And no more calling Nasir!”

“Fine. Sowwy,” Jayne said and hung her head. She always started talking baby-talk when she new she’d done something stupid and Agron was upset with her for it. “Can Nasir still come?”

Agron had already sent off a quick text to Nasir. _Sorry. My children are nuts. You don’t have to come._

He hesitated at Jayne’s pleading words and then wrote another. _Unless you want to._

Then he panicked because they were in serious need of doing grocery shopping and there were no way in hell he could offer Nasir Pop Tarts for dinner.

“Sure, if he wants to,” he told Jayne. “But you all have to help me cook or he’ll never come back.”

It took a couple of minutes before Nasir answered, and Agron was busy chopping vegetables for soup and didn’t register the beep of the phone.

Simone swiped his phone of the counter and tried to read it out loud. “Nasir says… He says…” She squinted at the phone for a few seconds before giving up. “Letters are stupid.” She gave it to Agron with a huff.

_I’ll be there._

- 

Dinner was… weird.

The girls loved Nasir. Maybe it was the novelty of having a person whom they hadn’t known since birth around them, but it seemed like they adored him and the very ground he walked on. And Nasir seemed so at ease with them. Initially, it had been a bit awkward since neither Agron nor Nasir really knew what do to with themselves or each other, but that passed, or was at least temporary forgotten, once they had sat down to eat. Nasir joked and teased the girls, wiped Isobel’s hands when she got sour cream all over them, and listened intently when Jayne and Simone simultaneously and in great detail described meeting Santa at the mall the other day.

Agron just watched him, and something inside of him ached.

He loved his girls to the moon and he wouldn’t change being their father for anything in the whole world except for having Duro and Diona back, but this wasn’t what he had imagined his life looking like. If he’d ever even thought about having children, there had always been someone else there in the picture as well.

When Duro had asked him to be godfather to the twins, he had freaked out a little once he realised what it actually _meant_.

“Seriously,” he’d told his brother. “If something happens to you, I’m the one that gets your kids. _Me_. Are you aware of that?”

“Of course I am, idiot,” Duro had said fondly, without taking his eyes from where his baby girls were laid out on a blanket on the floor making soft cooing noises. “You are the only one I would trust me children to. And you’re husband, of course.”

“I don’t have a husband, though,” Agron felt obliged to point out, thinking that maybe becoming a father had made his brother soft in the head. Softer in the head.

“No, but you will,” Duro said. “And he’s going to be awesome.”

“So, having children apparently turns you into a giant sap,” Agron told Saxa later.

She had given him a long-suffering look. “I know. I thought I was going to throw up on him last time I was there. I’m _never_ baby-sitting.”

“Yeah, I think he loves them too much for ever even contemplating letting you do that,” Agron had said, earning himself a swat to the arm.

He had made fun of Duro, but he wanted that. Someone to come home to each night, someone to wake up beside each morning – that whole sappy, happy package. And Nasir was suddenly _here_ , in Agron’s daily life, helping him feed his kids and listening to their blabbering and smiling at their antics. It made Agron feel and want things he shouldn’t, that certainly weren’t on the table yet.

It was over too quickly – the dinner was eaten and cleaned up, the kids were allowed to watch TV for an hour, and then they were put to bed. Isobel had already fallen asleep in Agron lap, her pacifier almost falling out of her mouth, so he just put he into bed, while the twins demanded to be read to and also that Agron thoroughly went through every space in their room to scare away the monsters.

“Are you even afraid of monsters?” he asked as he opened the closet. _Monsters, Inc_. was Simone’s favourite movie.

“No,” Simone said, burrowing down under her covers to get comfortable, “but maybe they’ll come take us anyway, and we don’t want to miss Christmas.” She yawned.

Agron smiled at that. “Good point,” he said. “Get some sleep now, okay? Love you.”

“Night, night, Aggy.”

“Love you, too.”

- 

Nasir was getting ready to leave when he came down.

“It took a while,” he said. “I thought you had fallen asleep too.”

“You could stay,” Agron said. “If you want.”

He had not expected Nasir to yank him in by his shirt and kiss him in response, but he wasn’t complaining. Instead he wrapped his arms around him, holding him in close, _tasting_ him for the first time in days. Nasir were impatient and fierce, pushing Agron up against the wall, slipping his tongue into his mouth, licking and exploring, lower teeth scraping at Agron’s lip.

Agron’s hands went up to cup the back of Nasir’s head, to keep him anchored, slowing the kiss down until their lips brushed together, breaths ghosting, his tongue running gently along Nasir’s bottom lip and into his mouth.

Nasir pulled back, looked up at him, still with his hands fisted in his shirt. His eyes seemed nearly black in the dim light, and Agron’s legs almost turned to jelly at the sheer fucking beauty of him.

“Maybe,” he licked his lips and Agron almost moaned at the sight of it, “Maybe I shouldn’t stay over.”

“You should, though,” Agron said unintelligently, moving his hands down to Nasir’s neck, letting one run through Nasir’s magnificent, marvellous hair, stroking his jaw with one thumb.

“But the kids…”

“They’re Vogts,” Agron said, and grinned. “Completely dead to the world. A heavy metal concert next door wouldn’t wake them. I’ll lock the door,” he added.

They quickly made their way into Agron’s bedroom – Agron making sure to lock the door behind them – and onto his bed.

Nasir was gloriously, wonderfully greedy, taking control and quickly divesting both of them of their clothes. His hands slid over Agron’s bare skin, feeling, venerating, memorising. There was something almost too intense about him, something not quite right, but Agron paid it no mind, too caught up in Nasir: the feel of him, his scent, the closeness, the way his lips fitted so perfectly across Agron’s, they way their bodies slid together like they had been made for it.

Nasir was on his knees above Agron, sliding two lube-slick fingers into himself in no time, Agron letting his hands wander all over Nasir’s, assuring himself that this gold-skinned, gorgeous, lustful creature were in fact real and here, his lips on Agron’s skin, his breath hot against Agron’s jaw as he tasted, nipped and sucked his at his skin, marking him.

“ _Gods_ ,” Agron groaned and it sounded almost painful.

He let on hand slide down Nasir’s hip and around, tracing the curve of his beautiful, lush ass. He was careful with how he pushed one finger inside of Nasir alongside his own and they stretched him together, Nasir bending down to kiss him, fluttering and moaning into Agron’s mouth as their fingers stroked his prostate, Agron keeping the pressure there, rubbing his fingertip against it, while Nasir’s fingers pumped slowly in and out.

Nasir kissed Agron wetly, holding on to his shoulder so hard that his nails left crescent marks, and slid his fingers out. Agron added another, but Nasir wouldn’t have it.

“Enough,” he breathed impatiently against Agron’s temple. He grabbed the condom Agron had placed on the nightstand, opened it with his teeth, and slid it on Agron.

“Come on, come on,” he whispered urgently, lining himself up, Agron pressing biting kisses to his chest and stomach, hindering him in his movements. “I need you in me.”

Agron stopped breathing as Nasir slid down on his cock, closing his eyes at the feeling of him taking him in, hot and slick inside.

It was fast and ferocious, Nasir fucking himself on Agron as they both stroked him to his completion. It was sudden and hard and had his back arching and him clenching down on Agron’s cock. Agron followed him a few thrusts of later, and he had to bite down hard on his own fist to keep himself from shouting out his release.

They collapsed down on top of each other, tangled and sticky, still kissing and touching, and that was how they eventually fell asleep. Nasir succumbed first, and Agron spent a few minutes watching him, carefully smoothing away hair from his face and kissing his forehead, inhaling the scent of him and them and sex.

It was only when he too drifted off that he realised that there had been an edge of desperation to Nasir, like he expected this to be their last time.

-

It took a while for Agron to realise that the sound of something ringing was his phone. He was distracted by the traces of sleep still lingering in his brain and having Nasir snuggled up close to him, his face pressed and softly snuffling into his neck.

“Noise,” Nasir eventually complained without opening his eyes and pulled a pillow over his head, which had Agron recognizing the annoying, disruptive sound for what it was.

 Work. “What,” he answered surly through a yawn. It was his fucking day off.

“Agron,” Donar said. “We’re in a bit of a crisis. Crixus is sick.”

“Oh, no, man,” Agron said, sitting up, bracing himself for having to say no. “You’re not doing this to me. This is my day off. And the only reason you’re calling me is because you can’t find anyone else to go in, and that means that I can’t find anyone to watch the girls. Not happening.”

“Bring them in?” he tried.

It had worked in the past when they were fully staffed and someone could always look after them and entertain them. Also they had a ball pool, for reasons. But that would not work this time.

“No. And besides, I promised them we would finish decorating the house and wrap presents and try and make gingerbread cookies. I just _can’t_.”

“Agron, come on. It’s fucking Saturday. Crixus have five clients booked today and I can’t reschedule them. You’re my only available P.T. I know this sucks, but please?”

“No,” Agron said. “I’m not having them stay at the gym playing in the fucking ball pool all day.” He knew he was being a dick; when they had started the gym they had all promised to devote as much time as they could to make it work, to always be there, be available, but that simply wasn’t possible anymore. The problem with their gym was that most of their clientele was made up of actors, sport players, singer and musicians – you name it; people that paid good money for their work-outs, but also people that did not like having their work-outs rescheduled.

“Hey,” Nasir rose up, leaning on one elbow and blinking sleepily, his hair a tangled, charming mess and his voice rough from sleep, “I can take them for the day.”

Agron thought it over quickly. “Fucking fine,” he snarled at Donar. “But I’m having my day off tomorrow, whatever fucking happens, plus Monday, okay?”

Donar hummed and there were sounds of paper rustling. “I think I can arrange that.”

“Good. I hate you, man.”

“Take it out on the clients, Ag, not me. They’re the ones that need it.”

“I’m taking it out on fucking Crixus later,” Agron growled, ending the call and throwing his phone back on the nightstand. “Gods, you’re a saviour,” he said to Nasir, pulling him up to kiss him. “One of these days I promise you won’t have to look after my kids, okay? And I’m making this up to you big time. Just get them dressed, get them something to eat – take whatever you want from the fridge or order take-out, there’s money in that ugly red jar in the kitchen, you can’t miss it – and keep them occupied. And don’t let them boss you around!”

With that he rushed off to shower, refusing to think about how perfectly, seamlessly Nasir fitted into their lives.


	5. Monstrosities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I began writing this, I thought "fuck slow build", but then halfway through I went all "hey, wait a minute..."
> 
> But we'll get there eventually, I promise.
> 
> Don't kill me.
> 
> (And here is a picture of octopus and crab hotdogs: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lcln2je1Rc1qaobu4o1_500.jpg)

When Agron got home, sweaty, tired and in desperate need of a shower and passing out in his bed, the girls were still up, watching _Gremlins_. Nasir, on the other hand, was fast asleep, Isobel’s comfort blanket thrown across his middle in a rather failed attempt to keep him warm, and the girls were snuggled up around him.

He ignored how that tugged at his heart, and shut the TV off, despite the girls sleepy protests.

“It’s way past your bedtime, and the gremlins won’t remain cute and fluffy,” he said. It took ages to get them to sleep – first Jayne refused to brush her teeth, then Isobel started crying from sheer exhaustion, and then Simone hid her pyjamas.

“We made gingerbread cookies from _scratch_ ,” Jayne told Agron, who was currently trying to look for Simone’s PJs under her bed and put Isobel’s pacifier in her mouth at the same time. He only grunted in response.

“Please, Sim, tell me where you hid your jammies,” he begged her. “You need to sleep. Hell, _I_ need to sleep.”

“I tell you if Nasir can spend Christmas with us.”

Agron sighed heavily. “I can’t…”

Isobel gave up a shrill cry as she dropped her octopus at the same time as Agron got up from the floor. “OCTIII!”

He bent down and picked it up quickly, but her crying just intensified. He tucked her head under his chin and jiggled her in his arms.

“Hush, honey,” he said. “You have octi back now. And Nasir can’t celebrate Christmas with us,” he told Simone.

“Why not?” she whined, even stamping her foot.

“Because,” Agron answered, even though it was the worst response ever.

“But he did with us today!” Jayne exclaimed. “He helped us decorate, and made tons of cookies, and helped us wrap gifts and then we wrote a letter to Santa and watched Christmas movies. And when he made us hot chocolate he made it Christmassy!”

“Yeah, but… That doesn’t matter. Could you just go to sleep now, please? Sim, you get your jammies or you’ll sleep without them. Jayne, get under the covers.” Isobel was quieting down, rubbing her face against Agron’s neck and getting snot and tears everywhere.

Agron had to promise them Cookie Dough ice cream for dessert tomorrow before they settled down, but eventually they did. Isobel, however, refused to let go of him as he tried to put her into her bed, clinging to him with her small hands.

“Come on, tiger,” Agron murmured, stroking her hair. “You need sleep. There’s a shark special on Animal Planet tomorrow, you know.” Maybe one weren’t supposed to let two and a half year old children watch shark shows on TV but she loved ocean life, so Agron let her. “And I’ll get you Phish Food ice cream and then we’ll have hotdogs for lunch and I’ll make them into octopuses and crabs, okay?” Bribing your kids with food to get them to sleep was totally okay, Agron was sure.

“Pomise?” she sniffled into his shirt.

He promised, and she allowed to be put into bed and kissed goodnight. “Sweet dreams,” he said, flicking the light off as he left.

- 

He shook Nasir gently awake. “Did they break you?” he asked, amused.

Nasir stretched and groaned. “A little,” he admitted. Then he looked around and realised that the girls were nowhere in sight. “Please don’t tell me that they ran off the moment that I fell asleep.”

Agron shook his head. “They were still going strong when I came home, so I put them to sleep.”

“I’m sorry for being a horrible baby-sitter,” Nasir said, still sounding drowsy. “But I did save you cookies. They’re on top of the kitchen cabinets.”

“Really?” Agron frowned at him. “How did you get them up there?”

Nasir glared through his sleepy-heavy eyes. He looked adorable. “I used a chair, asshole.”

Agron laughed, and got up from the couch to get the cookies. The house looked nice, all decorated and Christmassy – practically every Christmas ornament they owned displayed on windowsills and shelves and counters. There was a pile of Christmas presents under the tree as well, he noticed as he stepped back into the living room. _To Miira_ , one gift said in big, sprawling uppercase letters.

Nasir looked anxiously at him. “I’m sorry I hijacked your Christmas,” he said. “They just…” He frowned, the worried look giving way for confusion.

Agron chuckled, sitting down next to him on the couch. “They are like that,” he said. “They would rule the world if they set their minds to it.” He bit into a cookie and made an appreciating sound. “Did you really make these from scratch? Jayne was very impressed.”

“Yup. That’s the only way to make cookies,” Nasir said.

“You’re awesome at it. You’ve been holding out on me.”

“My parents taught me,” Nasir said and Agron felt bad, because he knew they were dead, and Nasir almost never spoke about them and Agron had tried respecting that despite his desperate wish to know and learn everything there was about Nasir.

“We had a small bakery,” Nasir continued. “We all practically lived at the shop, so we all learned, me and my siblings.” Nasir had a sister and a brother, Agron knew, but he never spoke about them either and Agron hadn’t asked why he didn’t have any contact with them. “And every Christmas, mom and dad would spend the entire days at the shop baking Christmas pastries, and then they would get home and bake even more for us, together with us, because it was important to them, even though they must have been sick to death of it. I haven’t really baked anything since they died,” he added, sounding thoughtful.

Agron looked down at the plate in his lap – most of the cookies had uneven and messy frosting, but some of them had clean, precise lines of white and pink and green. “If it makes you uncomfortable…”

“No,” Nasir said. “It’s nice.”

“I know this isn’t what you signed up for when we started dating,” Agron said after a short while, “and I know that I say stupid things, but I’m really glad to have you here.”

When Agron first had gotten custody of the kids he had scoffed at anyone who dared suggest that it might be hard for him to take care of three all but orphaned children by himself. They were all he had left of his brother, they were his whole fucking life – that it would be hard he had had no doubts about, but he would do it, no matter what it took. And he had his friends; the girls may have only one legal guardian, but they had at least a dozen people that loved them and was willing to take care of them whenever he needed help.

America’s fanatical fixation with the nuclear family was nothing but bullshit as far as Agron was concerned, but there was still something that made it different with Nasir around. Nasir could look at his daughters and not be reminded of Duro and Diona and what they had lost – he didn’t see Duro in Jayne every time she smiled, didn’t remember how Diona used to roll her eyes every time Duro was being extra exasperating when Simone did the same, didn’t say the twins names and remember how Duro and Diona had decided to name them after their respective favourite _Firefly_ -characters. Also, Nasir was his in the way that he was still there, despite it all, for _Agron_ , that he was something apart from the rest of his life, something new and wonderful, something that Agron had brought into his life for no one’s sake but his own.

Nasir took a heart-shaped cookie from the plate, staring intently at it. “I do love you,” he said, still staring at the cookie. He put it on his palm, pressed his thumb into the middle and broke it.

“What the hell was that?” Agron asked.

“What?” Nasir looked up, his eyes unreadable, but a little too wide.

“Why did you do that? With the cookie? Is that what you think I’ll do to your heart or something?”

Nasir looked down at the cookie, than up at Agron, then down at the cookie again. “No. Don’t you do that? You break it, and if you get four parts, you can make a wish.” He blushed. “It’s silly, but I’ve always done it.” Then he frowned. “Did you seriously…? Oh my god! I’m not _that_ melodramatic!”

“You are, though.” Agron grinned, pulled him into his lap. He rubbed their noses together. “I love you too. A lot.”

When Agron tried to kiss him, Nasir put a hand on his chest. His fingers tapped nervously against his skin. “I don’t know…” He sighed a little. “I’m not sure I’m what you need.”

Agron hands tightened on his hips.

“I mean… You have three children, Agron. I had a hamster once. It died and it was probably my fault. I’m not good the whole caring thing, I don’t know anything about children…”

“You’re doing well with them,” Agron cut in, because it was true.

“I’m plying them with cookies,” Nasir said, exasperated. “Every second I’m alone with them I’m absolutely _terrified_ of anything going wrong, of doing something wrong, of anything, however unlikely, happening. That’s…” He shook his head.

“You don’t think I am?” Agron said. “And was even more so in the beginning? I barely dared to lift Issa up at first, because I was so afraid of breaking her. That’s how it is. I’m just, you know, trying to do the best I can.” His hand went up to cup Nasir’s jaw. “You’re what I need.” He kissed him, a soft, brief touching of lips.

Nasir looked down, fiddling a bit with the zipper of Agron’s hoodie. “I…”

“I know,” Agron said softly and Nasir looked up at him again. “I get it. It’s a much bigger commitment than if it was just me, I know. And if you don’t want that, then I’ll… I’ll have to live with that. If you need time to think, I’ll wait for you. I just need to know how it is. This, what we have been doing this last week, going back and forth like some fucking seesaw? I just can’t do that. If we did, that,” he brought Nasir’s palm up to his lips and kissed it, “would have been _my_ heart.” He smiled sadly. “And I told you, I don’t want the girls to have to lose anyone else. So…” He fell silent.

Nasir bit his lip. “I need time,” he said, slowly, almost as if he regretted the words even as he spoke them. “These past days have been… insane. Not only insane bad, but still insane. I need to think. Everything just feels inside out right now, you know? But I love you,” he said, his hands clutching at Agron’s shoulders. He kissed him, quickly but needy, then rested his forehead against his. “You’ll wait for me?” His voice was small.

“Yeah,” Agron said, stroking his hands down Nasir’s back, hugging him close. “Of course I will.”

They spent long, bittersweet minutes kissing against Agron’s front door, slow and sweet and heartbreakingly, neither willing to let go first.

Once Nasir got out the door, Agron went upstairs, carried his girls into the master bedroom, and lay down beside them, not wanting to be alone.


	6. The Puppy Eyes Strategy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's finished! Excuse the cheesefest. There might be an epilogue to this, though.
> 
> I almost regret doing this as a part of the Christmas calendar thingy, because it would have been awesome to do this as a long, angsty slow build thing, but what do you do. Maybe I'll do a second version: "Patchworks - the Non-Christmas Edition". :P

Agron was definitely not sulking. He may be sitting in his pyjamas eating ice cream out of the tube, but it didn’t count when you did it with your kids. That’s what he told Mira over text anyway, but she didn’t seem to agree with him.

He had told the girls that Nasir was going out of town over Christmas when they brought it up again, not really wanting or even knowing how to explain Nasir’s sudden absence. They grumbled a little but seemed to accept it.

Agron ate all the heart-shaped gingerbread cookies, breaking them on his palm and frowning at them when they, without fail, crumbled into three parts. He was ashamed of how much he was acting like a love-sick teenager, though, so after their sea life-inspired lunch he ordered them all out into the backyard where they spent hours building snowmen and snow forts, until they were all shaking with cold. He made hot chocolate to warm them all up.

- 

“Seriously, Agron, I can _feel_ you mope over the phone.”

“I’m not moping! I just miss him.”

“It’s been two days,” Mira said gently.

“I know. But maybe he won’t be back.”

“Of course he will.”

“You don’t _know_ that.”

“He’d be an idiot not too.”

“Maybe it’s just too complicated for him,” Agron said. “I don’t blame him.”

“Agron,” Mira said slowly, resolutely. “You’re one of the most wonderful, devoted, loving, caring people I know. If he gives up on you just because you happen to have kids, he’s an idiot. And that’s a fact.”

“If you started dating someone and found out that they had three kids, how would you react?” Agron asked.

Mira’s silence was more telling than any verbal response would have been.

“There you go,” Agron said, leaning his head back against the wooden surface of the kitchen cabinets, closing his eyes.

“He said he love you,” she said.

“Yeah, well, I loved Duro and he disappeared,” Agron said.

“Gods, honey, I didn’t even think of that,” Mira said apologetically. Ever since Duro’s death, Agron could barely stand people going away. He’d almost had a freak out when Mira and Spartacus went on a vacation a few months after Duro died. “How bad is it?”

Agron sighed. “I’m currently trying to get drunk on non-alcoholic mulled wine.” He never had any alcohol at home anymore, mostly because in the months close after the accident he wouldn’t have stopped if he started drinking.

“Been there, done that,” Mira joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Come on, cheer up. You’re walking sex – even if your personality isn’t enough, he won’t be able to give your awesome body up.”

“Thank you,” Agron said. “I can always count on you to make me feel better by objectifying me, Mir.”

“Glad to be of assistance,” Mira said.

- 

“Can we go sit on Santa’s lap? Pleeeeeease?”

“You already did,” Agron said, taking Jayne’s hand to steer her away from the group of people she was almost walking into while her attention was on Santa. “And that line is way too long.”

“But I have another thing I want!”

“Santa won’t have time to get it anyway, sweetheart,” Agron said, hurrying up his steps a little bit. He wanted to get out of the full-packed mall as fast as possible. Why the hell did he always put off grocery shopping to the very last minute? “His schedule is full by now.”

His phone beeped and he awkwardly got it out of his pocket, trying to not drop Isobel and keep the twins away from any distractions at the same time.

 _Getting plastered on your behalf_ , Mira wrote.

He rolled his eyes and put it back without responding.

They finally reached the grocery store. He grabbed a cart and put Isobel down in it, before bringing out his shopping list.

“Caaandy!” Simone shouted at the top of her lungs. “We need candy!”

“We’ll get candy,” Agron said.

“Lots of it?” Simone asked slyly.

“Lots of it,” Agron promised. A sugar coma was almost as good as getting drunk. Kind of. “Anything else?”

There were lots of things they wanted – including a purple vacuum cleaner, every kind of Snapple available, three rolls of wrapping paper, condensed milk, beans and the laundry detergent with a smiling baby on it. Agron had to make good use of his parental veto powers.

When they got home he felt completely worn out so he put on the first movie he found and nodded off on the couch with the children on top of him, only waking up when Simone shouted “Mike Wazowski!” in his ear.

- 

Christmas Eve was quiet. Agron had given up on trying to contain the girls’ excitement and let them run wild and stay up as long as they wanted, which meant that they were passed out before 8 p.m. – Jayne in the armchair, Simone on a sea of pillows on the floor and Isobel in Agron’s lap. He carried them up one by one and gently put them to bed.

“Will Santa come by tonight?” Jayne mumbled as he pulled up the blankets to her chin.

“Yeah, he will. And tomorrow there will be a whole bunch of presents for you, okay?”

“’Kay,” she mumbled and turned to lie on her side.

When Agron was on his way down the stairs, a knock sounded on the front door. He frowned, not really expecting company – even if there was a chance that some of his friends would come by to watch some cheesy Christmas movie or play Settlers – and went and opened the door.

Only to come face to face with a puppy. Who had a red bow tied around his or her neck.

“Um, hi,” Agron said to the puppy.

The puppy was lowered. “Hi,” Nasir said.

“Hi,” Agron said again. “You have a puppy.”

“Yes.” Nasir looked down, scratched the puppy behind the ears, getting an excited tail waggle in return. Then he looked back up at Agron. “I came to apologise.”

Agron blinked. “For what?”

“For being stupid.” Nasir bit his lip. “I’m quite miserable without you, truth be told.”

“That does not explain the puppy,” Agron said, because apparently his brain didn’t function like normal people’s brains did.

“Well,” Nasir lifted the puppy up to eye-level again. “I don’t have puppy eyes, you know, so I had to bring reinforcement. Also, he is a bribe. And a Christmas present.”

“For me?”

“Not quite. Mostly for the girls.”

“Does it seem like I need more wild animals to take care of?” Agron was still talking to the puppy. It felt rather weird.

“I thought I could help you with that. Maybe.” Nasir sounded nervous. “If you still want me.”

Agron brain had momentarily shut down. He hadn’t expected to open the door and find Nasir there and he had especially not expected to find him there with a puppy, all cute and fluffy and staring at Agron with big amber eyes. He had been ready to wait for weeks – months even – not _days_.

“I know I acted like a dick. I know I should have kept in touch – texted you or something.” Nasir was babbling. “And I guess the girls asked about me and where I was, and I’m sorry you had to deal with that. So if you’re angry, I understand. I just… I really do love you, Agron. But I was scared, which was stupid because you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I know that there is a chance that I just threw that away when I walked out the other night, and…”

“Nasir, put that damn puppy down.”

Nasir lowered the dog, his eyes big and anxious.

“I said I’d wait for you.” Agron leaned forward, rested one hand on the side of Nasir’s neck. “I meant that. I meant I’d wait for however long it took you. Days… This is nothing, Nasir.”

“You were miserable,” Nasir said, clutching the puppy to his chest. “Mira said so. She called me. She was very drunk and that was apparently all your fault.”

Agron pulled him in gently, and reached down to brush his lips across Nasir’s. “I’m not letting you go again,” he said. He dragged him over the threshold and closer to him, closing the door firmly behind him. The puppy yelped in protest as he was squeezed between their bodies. “Never fucking ever. Okay?”

Nasir looked up at him, endlessly beautiful, and _there_ , with Agron, in his arms. “Okay,” he said. And then he smiled and reached up to kiss Agron, winding one hand into his hair and pulling him flush against him, hungrily taking his mouth, only breaking away from him for second to let the whining puppy down on the floor, before latching on to Agron again.

“The girls are going to freak,” Agron mumbled against his mouth, minutes later.

“Over me or the puppy?”

“The puppy.” Agron grinned, so happy that it felt like he would burst from it. “I’m freaking out about you, though. Big time.” He let his hands drift down Nasir’s sides, touching and assuring himself that he and this was in fact real.

“That’s good,” Nasir said, tilting his head down to take his mouth again, pressing his warm body against Agron, real and his and there to stay.


End file.
